arlesey and the railway
A
rlesey has had a long association with the railways since the opening of
the main line here in the 1850. With its two stations and continuous links
to the brickworks Arlesey relied on the railways for many things.
The original station at Arlesey situated just yards further south of where it
is now, on the Great Northern Railway, was known as Arlesey and Shefford
Road. It opened in 1850 when the mainline railway was first in service. It
was later renamed Arlesey and Henlow Station. The tracks were originally
one north and one southbound.
1857
The opening of a tramway from the GNR Line to the site of The Three
Counties Asylum was laid to carry the construction material and later for
access to the Asylum. It ran along part of Station Road, into Asylum Road
(Hospital Road) and across the High Street through the gates to the hospital.
The track was lifted in 1953.
1866
On the 1st April, Arlesey Sidings Station opened, and on the 1st July 1886
the name was changed to Three Counties Station.
1959
The Arlesey & Henlow and Three Counties Stations were closed for
passenger traffic on the 5th January 1959 and for goods traffic on the 28th
November 1960.
1969
Arlesey Road Bridge opened in October of this year, and was built as a
replacement for the old level crossing which had been there since the
opening of the line in 1850. The level crossing had long been a site
for traffic congestion.
Work started on the new bridge in 1967 and was built with up-to-date
technologies, in fact only lasted about 30 years before it needed propping
up and and eventually replacing with the bridge we see today. The image
below, by Brian Juffs, shows the first part of the works on the A507
moving earth for the run-ups to the bridge, with the Old Oak on the left hand
side. The van in the picture is driving towards Henlow along what is now
Old Oak Close.
1876
On the 23rd December 1876 the 2.45 pm GNR express to Peterborough
left Kings Cross on its non-stop journey. A goods train w